Canadian MeccaNotes June 2003 - Canadian Modeling Association

Canadian
MeccaNotes
--- Issue #30 ---
June 2003
Larry Yates' 1938 British
ERF Tipping Lorry
Mike Shaw's
Steampillar
Ottawa Show, March 1st
Jerry DuBois'
Strumphs on a
Turntable
Mike Shaw's
Queen Mary
Ron Kurtz's
Automated Table
Tennis Ball Colliery
Complex
Mike Shaw's
Road Grader
2
Canadian MeccaNotes
Editor’s Notes
This issue contains a mixed bag of features.
Many thanks to Colin Hoare,
Ivor Setten, Don Redmond, Bill
Bardutz, Don Morton, Leslie
Roberts, Larry Yates, Ron Kurtz,
Attila Szakonki and others for
supplying items for this issue.
Starting with the March 2002
issue, the club drew from the
names of everyone who submitted articles to the newsletter. The winner gets a prize in
appreciation of their efforts. The
March 2003 winner was Richard Symonds.
Perhaps you’ll win for the next issue?
Some misfortune has befallen an Alberta
Meccanoman, Phil Kraaikamp in late March.
Greg Rahn reported on spanner that Phil
Kraaikamp, a longtime Canadian Meccanoman
has lost almost everything in a devastating fire.
He lived on a farm just north of the town of
Crossfield (north of Calgary). His very large
Meccano collection was on a mezzanine of a
very large machine shed that went up in flames.
Canadian enthusiasts will remember him as an
original member of the CMN and CMAMAS. He
... continued on page 3
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(4 Issues Per Calendar Year)
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o within North America: Canada - $30;
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U.S.A. - US$28. Make cheque or money
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order payable to CMAMAS, mail to Trea123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345
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surer, address above.
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o elsewhere: £35, US$35 or C$60; also
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available from MW Models, address on page
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27.
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© Copyright 2003 C.M.A.M.A.S.
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and/or Individual Contributors.
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Meccano and Erector are registered trade
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names and are used throughout Canadian
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MeccaNotes by kind permission of
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Meccano Ltd..
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North American subscribers to Canadian
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MeccaNotes
are automatically members of
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the
Canadian
Modeling Association for
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Meccano
and
Allied
Systems (CMAMAS).
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Subscriptions
June 2003
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The “Canadian MeccaNotes” newsletter
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(ISSN 1207-2249) is published 4 times per
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year (March, June, September and De12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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cember) by the Canadian Modeling Asso12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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ciation for Meccano & Allied Systems
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(CMAMAS).
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“Written and produced by Meccano en12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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thusiasts for Meccano enthusiasts.”
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Canadian Modeling Association for
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Meccano & Allied Systems (CMAMAS)
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130 Neptune Drive, Suite 1109
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Toronto, Ontario
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CANADA M6A 1X5
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http://www.memeshadow.net/
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cmamas/
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[email protected]
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President ... Colin Hoare, 18 Tweedle St.,
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Glen Williams, Ontario, Canada L7G 3S5,
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[email protected], (905)873-8261
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Vice President ... Attila Szakonyi, 10
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Fendley Crt, Brampton, Ontario, Canada,
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L6Z 3H9, [email protected],
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(905)846-5287
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Treasurer ... Marsha Brandston, 130 Nep12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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tune Drive, Suite 1109, Toronto, Ontario,
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Canada M6A 1X5,
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[email protected]
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Secretary ... Colin Hinz, 148 Howland
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Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 3B5,
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[email protected], (416)516-8686
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Newsletter Editor/Webmaster ... David Wil12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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liams, 3017 - 111A Street, Edmonton,
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Alberta,
Canada
T6J
3Y5,
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[email protected]
,
(780)438-1197
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Parts & Sets Manager (interim) ... Lynn
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Krause, 111 Anndale Drive, Toronto,
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Ontario,
Canada
M2N
2X3,
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[email protected], (416)89212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234
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8171
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Canadian MeccaNotes
CMAMAS Executive
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
3
Table of Contents
Editor’s Notes
2
Presidential Perusings
4
All Chained Up
5
Stokys News
5
CMAMAS Sales Update
6
Ottawa Meeting - March 1st, 2003
8
Rescuing Worn Motor Bearings
10
Kingston Rail-O-Rama
10
Moose Jaw Hobby Show 2003
12
Terry Stewart’s London RT Bus (Part 2 of 2)
14
Meccano and the Nobel Prize
19
Metallus New Geared Roller Bearing
21
2nd Annual One Day Meccano Show
23
Meccano Magazine - June 1942
26
The Peddler
27
regularly attended hobby shows in western
Canada and the Moose Jaw shows of the 80’s
and early 90’s were his favorite stop!
Bill Bardutz also felt Phil’s loss as he had lent Phil
a complete year of Constructor Quarterly as well
as a 40 pages or more writeup of Keith Cameron’s
1915 Case Steam Engine (irreplaceable). Keith
had sent this material to Bill 20 years ago. All
burned up!
Bill also sent along his exhibitor badge from the
1983 Toronto Hobby Show. It was his first
meeting with Norm LaCroix, Keith Cameron and
Colin Hoare. The model he took along was
Keith’s Cathedral Clock.
Dr. Eric Sinton of Red Deer reported that he
underwent a six-week hospital stay ending up in
open-heart surgery and things have been a bit
up and down since then. “I seem to be on the
mend now but Meccano will remain beyond my
permitted weight-lifting limit for a bit yet! Maybe
a wee bit of Stokys will be possible!”
The Leduc West Antique Society’s show is
coming up on Saturday-Sunday, July 26-27,
2003, http://www.leducwestantique.com/.
Gordon Frank has busy building a huge crane
out of new and refurbished blue-gold parts and
I hope he’ll exhibit it at this show.
MW Models wrote to say that although they
closed the retail shop at the end of March, they
very much intend to continue and promote their
service of publications, especially ModelPlans,
and they will continue to be available by mail
order. The latest is MP143 “Pinyon Blocksetter”.
They will also continue to mail the current range
of (Senior) Meccano Sets worldwide. However,
MW has arranged with Frizinghall Models of
Bradford to take over the specialist service of
Meccano & MW spare parts. Many of our
Display Models at Christie’s remain unsold and
are still available.
As always, the newletter is only as good as the
contributors. Your articles, photos, model plans,
short news items, want, sales and swap ads are
wanted. Items in machine readable form (email, diskette) are preferred but everything is
acceptable. If desired, your material can also be
posted on our website. It’s a great idea to
document photos on the back using post-it
notes. If you’d like any part of your submissions
returned, please say so; otherwise I will keep
everything.
Please note that I plan to publish the September
2003 issue around September 8, 2003 so the
final deadline is August 24, 2003.
David Williams
4
Canadian MeccaNotes
Presidential Perusings
Subscribers will recall that there was a proposed change to the Constitution in the March
issue of “Canadian MecaNotes,” that would be
presented for ratification at the One Day Meccano
Show on May 3rd. Since we were able to muster
a quorum at that show, the proposed change
was duly presented and ratified. As a result, we
are now in a position to add a Parts & Sets
Manager to the Executive. The position will
be filled on an interim
basis at the next Executive Meeting, but the
official appointment by
the members will take
place at the Annual
Meeting in November
at The Hobby Show.
In most households, the
fridge magnet is as
ubiquitous as a refrigerator itself, and our
house is no exception.
Most of the magnets just sit there, and are rarely
used to post reminders to ourselves. It was
whilst I was looking at the array recently that
there spotted one there that had been in place for
a decade. It was announcing “The Great Meccano
Extravaganza Owen Sound 1993.” It was hard
to believe: has it been ten years since that
memorable weekend. For me, the memories of
this wonderful event are still strong. The motive
behind the organisation of the event was to
celebrate Dr. Keith Cameron’s eightieth birthday. Keith kindly accepted the invitation to come
up to Canada for the event, and he was accompanied by his wife Mura – as always- and this
time his son Ken and Ken’s wife joined the party.
And what a party it was! Three well-known
Meccanomen came from England, these being
Robin Johnson, the Editor of “Constructor Quarterly,” Pat Briggs, ace designer of Meccano
clocks, and Jack Partridge, whose modeling
skills in many areas are among the best. There
was strong representation from the United States
as well, including Anton Calleia and Lou Boselli.
We had talked at that show about having a
repeat exhibition when Keith turned ninety, which
would have been this year. Sadly, Keith passed
away a few years after the show, so it was not
possible.
For anyone who is a member of the International
Society of Meccanomen, one of the most useful
June 2003
items that is published by this group is the
Annual Membership List. I was able to put it to
advantage when my wife and I went to Barbados this year for our annual escape from the
Canadian winter. I had noticed that there was
one member of the I. S. M. living on the island,
Harm De Boer, so I duly gave him a call and
arranged to meet him. It was an interesting
experience. For a start, this is the only time I
have been to a Meccanoman’s house and seen
monkeys running wild in the garden – it is not
something you see in Canada! No doubt, our
contemporaries in some tropical climes have
experienced a similar phenomenon – and I am
sure the animals are considered to be just as
much a pest as they are in Barbados. As to the
Meccano collection that Harm has, it is entirely
dedicated to the construction of rolling stock
and station facilities for his wide gauge electric
train that he has set up in his extensive (above
ground) basement. What I found most interesting was that Decaperm motors drove all his
locomotives. Harm expressed concern that one
or other of his Decaperm motors might not last
much longer, and said he would be looking for a
replacement – not easy for someone who lives in
the Caribbean!
It may seem too early to think of this year’s
Hobby Show at the International Centre in November, but the organizers are clearly not of that
opinion! The Space Order Form was sent to me
in April, and has duly been completed and
returned. It is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
first such show, so plans are going ahead to
make the most of it. My ‘spies’ tell me that the
Meccano display will have competition this year
– there will be a booth for the display of models
built with Lego! Clearly, it is in our best interests,
therefore, to have as strong a turnout as possible, with as many interesting models as possible.
Theresa Pearson, the widow of our late friend
Don, has asked that we dispose of her husband’s
collection of Meccano at the Hobby Show, so
anyone who would like to stock up on parts at
good prices should come with money! We plan
to dispose of Don’s collection the same way that
we handled that of the late Terry Stewart, by
lottery, and allowing people to buy up stock in
units of $100.00. There will, however, be a
couple of slight differences (one of which is
subject to approval by the Executive). We will
have to adopt another price list as the base,
since Geoff Wright at MW Models has decided
to sell off this side of his business to Frizinghall
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
Models and Railways.
All Chained Up
5
The second change is more controversial, as it
affects the lottery process, and will be subject to
ratification by the Executive. After the last such
sale, there was a strong feeling that we give did
not give due recognition to those members of
the Club for the time and trouble that they have
taken, not only to build models, but also for
bringing them for display at the Hobby Show.
For the upcoming sale, therefore, regular exhibitors who have displayed models at a minimum
of three Hobby Shows will go into one pool,
(Pool ‘A’), and other subscribers who live in the
Toronto area and also want to purchase parts
will go into a second pool (‘B’). Names from Pool
‘A’ will be drawn first, and after everyone from
the first pool has made his/her purchases, then
individuals in Pool ‘B’ will be able to make their
first round of purchases. If anyone has any
concerns about this change, they should contact me personally, either by mail or by e-mail,
before the next Executive Meeting, which will be
held towards the end of June.
How to store sprocket chain? How to avoid
tangles? One way is a hook rack, a row of small
hooks with straight stems, on which chain
loops hang neatly. But what to do with a set
which contained five un-looped lengths of chain?
It had to be stored in a flat tray. The obvious way
would be to wind the chain around some kind of
flat cylindrical block—but the tray was not wide
enough. After running the lengths of chain over
a chain jig, to ensure it was in good condition,
and joining it all into one length, I started to wind
it around the flanges — not the flat sides — of a
5x11-hole flanged plate (p/n 52). Starting with
the end that had the free “hook” link, and hooking these over the first end of a flange, the chain
snugged firmly at each corner, and each successive layer snugged neatly over the previous one.
The whole length made a neat package, which
just fit into the flanged sides of a couple of 5x7hole flanged plates (p/n 53). Presto! A package
with no loose ends, no sags, no slips, no kinks—
and no loops.
Colin Hoare
And as a precaution before all this: The chain
had been stored for many years and was nevertheless in surprisingly good condition, with just
a trace of rust showing here and there. Before
winding it up, I wiped it with an oily rag.
Don Redmond
Below: things to do with a spare GRB plate.
Stokys News
We have been told that STOKYS (the Swiss
metal construction system) has been taken over
by two businessmen by end of March 2003 and
will restart production of sets and spare parts in
July 2003. Further details such as the new
address will be published as soon as we know
it.
The old address STOKYS, Grossmatte 7, CH6014 Littau is out of date and no longer valid.
André Welti
AMS (Amateure fuer Metallmodellbau in der
Schweiz)
6
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
CMAMAS Sales Update
Things are moving and changing quickly, and
once again there’s quite a lot to report.
Some of you include in your orders and other
correspondence with the club a few words of
appreciation for our efforts. A big thanks goes to
all of you for this thoughtful gesture. Positive
feedback from our fellow club members lets us
know that we are not performing all the countless hours of volunteer work purely for our own
personal “amusement”, and it does wonders to
motivate us to work even harder to try to improve the service we offer.
As always, for the most up-to-date and complete information on what’s available and how
to order it, the club website is your best resource. This column supplements and complements the website, providing news of interest to
all club members, as well as highlighing the
current offers for those without web access.
New Shipping & Handling Policy
Perhaps the biggest change since the last newsletter is the launch of our new S&H policy. The
nicely simple and straightforward flat-rate S&H
policy we started with a couple of years ago was
fine for redistribution of the “Irwin stock” because the orders were fairly homogenous with
regard to size and weight. However, with an
ever increasingly broad selection of items sold
through the club, we found ourselves forever
trying to “patch up” the S&H policy, with the
result that we had a policy which was neither
simple and straightforward, nor particularly satisfactory in terms of fairly and accurately covering shipping and handling costs.
We therefore scrapped the old policy and adopted
one similar to the one used by Geoff Wright for
orders not paid by credit card. From now on,
club members placing orders must provide amply sufficient S&H funds, and surpluses will be
credited to their accounts. It goes without saying that we will continue to make every effort to
minimize shipping and handling costs by using
optimally sized boxes and mailers, and by scavenging used but clean packaging materials.
Full details of the new S&H policy are posted on
the club website in the “CMAMAS Sales” section, and members without web access can
request a printed copy from our Treasurer. Some
guidelines are provided in the last paragraph of
this article.
New Contact E-mail Address
We now have a central e-mail address for contacting us about all matters pertaining to club
sales. It is as follows:
[email protected]
Please use this address from now on instead of
directing enquiries to individual members of the
sales team. Of course, e-mails sent directly from
our private addresses can be replied to at those
addresses.
Backorders
We’ve been able once again to deliver a few
more parcels, but some of you are still waiting
for the last of your Exacto parts. At the time of
this writing, we are expecting to receive most of
these in forthcoming weeks, and we may even
have them by the time you hold the newsletter
in your hands. Thanks to all of you who have
been patiently waiting for so long!
Spring 2003 Bulk Order
I am happy to report that all submitted orders did
arrive by the deadline, so no one’s order had to
be held over. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the task of compiling all of your orders into
bulk orders (one for each of our suppliers),
checking and double-checking the data entry
and the submitted payments etc etc is a large
one, and at the time of this writing not yet
complete. We expect, however, that by the time
you read this the orders will have been submitted to our suppliers.
We are now including packing lists in orders we
ship to club members. Please check your order
carefully when you receive it, and report any
problems to us at the new contact e-mail address within 15 days of the postmarked date.
The possibility of submitting orders electronically is under discussion, and with luck we’ll
have a means for doing so in place for next year’s
bulk order. For those of you with Internet access,
this will make it easier for you to compile your
order, and for us it will reduce the overall task of
data entry and thus the time it takes us after the
deadline to submit the bulk orders to our suppliers. We will keep you posted!
General Orders of Repro Parts
For the time being, we’ve got our hands completely full with the 2003 Bulk Order, but when
this settles down, we plan on turning focus to
working out viable logistics for supplying repro
items to club members more frequently than just
June 2003
once per year with the Bulk Order. As always,
as updates become available, they will be posted
on the club website and summarized in this
column.
Meccano Sets
Further to my comments in the last newsletter,
we expect to have a quantity of the new “Design” series sets available for sale by the third
week of June. The prices will be $42 for “Design
2”, $67 for “Design 3”, and $85 for “Design 4”.
A number of sets have already been pre-ordered
and we expect that the remainder will go fast, so
don’t delay submitting your order if you’re after
these sets.
Due to popular demand, we’ll also be restocking
the 50-Model sets #9550, and the 100th Anniversary sets #7080. We haven’t got any of the
10-Model or 20-Model sets in stock at the moment, but we do have the possibility of supplying them if there is sufficient demand. If you
wish to purchase either of these sets, please
send either e-mail to our new sales contact
address ([email protected]) or a letter to our Treasurer.
The usual Meccano junior and Yoocans sets are
still available, and additionally, we now have
“Infrared Truck” #0200 sets for $90. Also still
available are the “Special Edition Train Set”
#0507, as well as most of the sets from the
Crazy Inventors, Future Master, and Multi-Model
sets not mentioned in the previous paragraph,
and some one-motor IR kits for $25 each, or two
for $40.
As much as I hate to have to do this, I must also
report some bad news on the Meccano sets
front. There appears to be a disturbing new
trend of factory sealed current Meccano sets
with missing or faulty parts. So far we’ve been
able to organize replacements, but only with
considerable effort, and although it goes without saying that we will continue to make every
effort to do so, we regret that we cannot guarantee that we will be successful in every case.
As with orders of repro parts and all CMAMAS
orders, we ask that you check your order upon
arrival and report any problems as soon as
possible, at the latest within 15 days of the
postmark.
Meccano Spares and Books
Still available are new, unused Calais spares and
various instruction books from the 1990’s. Some
of Calais spares are now in short supply (indicated on the price list). When ordering these
Canadian MeccaNotes
7
parts, particularly if you order parts in low
supply, please indicate alternate choices. If no
alternates are indicated, and (some of) the parts
you order are depleted, alternates will be shipped
at our discretion.
CMAMAS Merchandise
CMAMAS mugs, sweatshirts, and t-shirts continue to be available. The mugs are $10,
sweatshirts $21 (sizes L, XL), and t-shirts $15
(sizes L, XL) resp. $17 (size XXL), whereby the
new S&H policy, announced earlier in this article, applies.
Ordering Info
Complete ordering information is always available on the club website under the heading “For
Sale through CMAMAS”. Those without web
access can request paper copies of the various
price lists and ordering information from our
club treasurer, Marsha Brandston, whose address can be found at the beginning of each
issue of the newsletter.
To order, add an S&H allowance to your total,
and send a money order or cheque for the full
amount along with a paper copy of your order to
the club treasurer. If you wish, by all means send
your order by e-mail in advance of sending
payment, but we must insist that payment be
accompanied by a paper copy of the order. The
reason for this is that all too often when the order
is submitted by e-mail with the payment following on its own, there are discrepancies between
the two, and much time is lost working it out.
The important points regarding the amount of
the S&H allowance are that it must be sufficient
to cover the actual costs of parcelling and shipping your order to you, and that any surpluses
will be credited to your account, whereas deficiencies will cause undue delays in processing
your order. As a general guideline, $15 within
Canada and $39 to the USA will sufficiently
cover a typical order, while $6 to ON and QC, $8
elsewhere within Canada, and $11 to the USA
are absolute minimums to cover tiny orders
consisting of just a very few small parts. Two or
three 4.5" Strips would be an example of such an
order. A 12.5" Angle Girder is not a small part,
and would require more than the minimum
S&H. If you are in doubt, please feel free to
contact us by e-mail at the new contact address,
or in writing at the address of our Treasurer.
Lynn Krause
[email protected]
8
Canadian MeccaNotes
Ottawa Meeting - March
1st, 2003
The best way to get a Meccano meeting going is
to start with a display of little white and blue
Strumphs, however to gain credibility you should
mount them on a revolving base made from
Meccano and that is just what Jerry Dubois did
to get things rolling.
Some of the other
goodies Jerry was
showing represented
a
demonstration
model of a differential with hub reduction but the “piece de
resistance” was his
model of a 4-6-2 locomotive with matching tender - total
length 75 inches.
Jerry started around
Christmas but really
had to build up steam
to have it ready for
this Ottawa meet.
Modeled in red and
yellow it had considerable visual appeal and is based on a 231-D
French Pacific locomotive that was originally
published as leaflet #22 by the Chief
Meccanoman of April 1971.
Mike Shaw was exhibiting 5 models. His cycling
rider going around a circular track could be
removed and replaced by a unicycle high wire
artist. It looked like
his unicycle artist
had a couple of
Attila
drinks judging Szakonyi's
from his hesitant
"A" Frame
balancing act. His
Single
second
model
Beam
was the Sopwith
Steam
Camel biplane
modeled in yellow
with its impressive “9 cylinder”
radial engine.
Besides his 24
inch model of the
Queen Mary, Mike
was also showing
a “steampillar”
June 2003
which is a caterpillar device run from a steam
motor. Mike is thinking of modifying the steam
engine to run on compressed air. Mike’s main
presentation was a Canadian Modelplan by Rick
Collette of a very realistic road grader with six
inch tires, tilting front wheels, tilting and rotating and inclining scraper blade. The differential,
gearbox and control mechanism is an extremely
tight design with very
little space to spare.
Charles Shrubsole
came in with his level
luffing harbor crane
that utilizes a simple
yet efficient counterweight mechanism.
Charlie has put to
good use in his model
some mutilated corner brackets of his
own design that were
cut from flanged
plates part #52 which
most meccanomen
Jerry DuBois' 231-D
have in abundance.
French Pacific
The 4 different parts
Locomotive
he has created from
the flanged plate are
really well thought out and Charlie intends to
prepare a write-up about these in the near
future. Charlie was also showing an electric
railcar of neat design and rather harmonious
proportions, very nice. Ron Kurtz had a couple of
models to show. His caterpillar model incorporating the Gleasman transmission mechanism
really captivated the interest of Normand Morin,
a Meccano enthusiast
from Montreal.
Ron’s main model was
a rebuild of the “Automated table tennis ball
colliery
complex”
which appeared in CQ
#35 of March 1997.
Ron used what looked
like new medium red
and green parts and
used 4 of the recent
Meccano 3-6 volt motors encased in black
plastic. According to
Ron, these motors are
quite reliable and even
capable of excess voltage for a while.
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
T h e
model
uses at
least 5
mc
iroswtiches
and has
4
acc e s s
doors in
t h e
base of
t h e
main elevator
assembly to enable getting at the mechanical and electrical components.
Ron made some slight modifications
to increase the reliability of the model.
Amongst these improvements was the
addition of a flywheel to one of the
motors to overcome pressure from a
mechanical switching assembly. The
flywheel was composed of two large
helical gears mounted back to back on
an axle, somewhat rich but very effective.
Ron also had to shim out the bracing
strips on the pithead tower because
the ping-pong balls he was using were
larger than the ones used in the CQ
#35 model. Attila Szakonyi demonstrated his revolving globe with illuminated lights going round. I previously
referred to this model as an illuminated
whirligig
but now it
reminds
me more
of
our
planet
e a r t h
with satellites circling in all
d i r e c tions.
Attila’s
m a j o r
m o d e l
was a sta-
9
tionary single beam steam engine in medium red
and green. The visual appearance of the “A”
frame is very appealing as well as the connecting rod joining the beam to the flywheel crank.
This model was one of several in the Terry
Stewart collection that was auctioned off in
Toronto a few years ago. The original design
was by Philip Webb and it was the subject of
MW Modelplan #93.
Bernard Champoux kept the youngsters busy
with his bubble machine. He also showed a
geared roller bearing that he machined from t/4"
aluminium plates, the top plate meshes with a
large toothed Meccano pinion whereas the bottom plate has
regular teeth and
can be used with a
19 tooth pinion
#26.
I presented a
model taken from
CQ #37 of September 1997. It represents a model
based on a 1938
British ERF Tipping
Lorry, the original
was
by
A.
Aikmann and the
CQ version was a
rebuild by Bill
Charleson. This
was my first attempt at a motor
vehicle
with
Ackermann steering, 3 speed gearbox with reverse
and spur gear differential, a very interesting undertaking.
Normand St-Aubin brought along some mechanisms and assemblies in progress, amongst
others some elements of his upcoming grab
crane based on a blocksetter design as well as
some rear axle designs with inter-axle differential. This should eventually lead to some pretty
impressive models.
In summary, the Ottawa show was small but
nice and it is always a pleasure to renew contact
with fellow enthusiasts West of Montreal.
Larry Yates
Photos courtesy of Ron Kurtz & Attila Szakonki
10
Canadian MeccaNotes
Rescuing Worn Motor
Bearings
Much-used Meccano motors may develop loose
bearings — partly from wear on the shaft, even
more from wear of the sideplate bearings. Some
sideplate bearings are merely holes in the steel
plate; little can be done short of complete rebuilding. Other motors have brass bearing inserts. In the 1920s these were small collarshaped brass pieces pressed into the sideplate
holes. From 1932 onward, larger brass pieces
the size of a Meccano boss were used, on the
outside of the sideplates. To these, tapped holes
were added, into which oil or grease cups could
be inserted. The following suggestion for repair,
given to me by a friend, applies only to the 1920s
small brass inserts in nickel-plated sideplates.
No guarantee goes with this suggestion, which
I have not myself found necessary to use!
June 2003
Kingston Rail-O-Rama
Saturday-Sunday, March 15-16,
2003
Meccano in Kingston in the Spring! This year’s
Meccano display at the annual Rail-o-Rama, at
Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston was
the 14th annual show organized by the Kingston
Division of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. Their announcement includes a
Meccano Society Display” — and for years we
have not disappointed them! This year the show
was a month earlier than in previous years —
this year only.
The motor must be disassembled and each
sideplate treated separately. The motor shaft
should be carefully examined, any marks caused
by tight grubscrews reduced, and the shaft
polished with 600-grit abrasive. It should then
be possible to see if the brass insert in the
sideplate is worn.
A Meccano 3/8-inch steel ball is the remedy.
(Steel balls are readily available at automobile
repair shops.) The sideplate should be stacked
in a large vise (preferably with smooth jaws),
with the steel ball resting on the shaft insert on
one side, and a flat piece of steel on the other
side. Care must be taken that the ball rests
solidly and centrally on the shaft hole. Pressure
with the vise will cause the brass insert to flow
slightly, reducing the size of the bore. Only
enough pressure and reduction should be applied, that the armature shaft can be tried in the
bearing and will cease to be loose, becoming a
tight, twisting fit in the brass insert. The motor
shaft should then be inserted by hand into the
bearing, the bearing amply oiled, and the shaft
twisted — continuing the twisting until the shaft
will spin freely in the bearing. Do not use abrasive at this stage, but keep the bearing oiled as
the twisting continues, removing soiled, darkened oil frequently with a tissue.
Our friend Joe Long, who specializes in restoring old motors, tells me that he routinely uses
this method to eliminate rattling motor shafts.
Don Redmond
Photo Captions
1. Admiring Hubert Hogle’s robot
2. Don Redmond and Jerry Dubois
3. Hubert Hogle showing an old set to a
young girl
4. Mike Shaw’s cyclist
5. Don Redmond repairing his steam engine
June 2003
6. Don Redmond and Charlie Shrubsole
7. A goal! Leslie Roberts’ Hockey Game (MP
75)
8. Jim Bobyn, Don Redmond, Colin Hinz
photographing Don’s number 5 set
Envelope photo: Don Redmond’s 1923 #5 set
See also back cover (page 28) for 3 more
photos.
Photos by Leslie Roberts
Canadian MeccaNotes
11
12
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
Moose Jaw
Hobby Show
2003
The Moose Jaw hobby show and
swap meet took place March 28
and 29th. John and Judith
Overeem, Ed Finch and Bill Bardutz
provided the Meccano presence to
the show.
John Overeem continues to expand the range of parts and sets.
He has now a full compliment of
braced girders and flexible, plates,
strips, angle girders, flat plates,
gears, pulleys and and small sets.
Some of John Overeem's
New Parts (Mechantrix)
model of Keith Cameron’s Krazy Klock for
John Overeem from parts he had supplied. It has been running merrily for the
past two months.
Ed Finch had his regular assortment of
farm related models, the swather being
one that is being sold as a kit by
Mechantrix. Ed has a very nice model of
an early Massey Harris self propelled
combine that has been made up from
Meccano parts and will also be sold as a
kit. It is quite an impressive working
model in the bright red color of the original combine.
For myself I had the usual assortment of
bubble blowers, (it never ceases to be a
source of enjoyment for young and old!) a
Michael Denny's "Nellie"
John was to tell me that he received a
phone call from a grandmother asking if
he had any small meccano sets. In the
course of conversation she explained
that she had raised two sons, both of
whom became mechanical engineers.
She attributed their choice and success
in their careers to their association with
Meccano in their formative years and
now with two young grandsons she
was trying to steer them on the same
course. She absolutely wanted nothing
to do with lego! It is interesting to note
that I read a similar statement in a
magazine elseware. I also assembled a
Display Carousel
designed by
Mike Cotterill
from March CQ
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
13
meccanograph, Micheal Denny’s “Nellie”
who faithfully plodded back and forth for
two days, and Mike Cotterill’s Display Carousel a bit hastily assembled but a nice
model nevertheless. The Disneyland Train,
a ropemaker, Stephenson’s Rocket and Keith
Cameron’s 1915 Case steam traction engine all served to give a good variety of
Meccano models.
W.J. Bardutz
See also 3 photos on the back cover (page
28).
Above: Beautiful working
model of Massey Harris
Combine (an early model
- 40's) made by Ed Finch
Disneyland Train
Stephenson's Rocket
Ropemaking Machine
Moose Jaw Centenary
In 2003 Moose Jaw will be celebrating its 100th Birthday.
The year of 1903 was to be one of historical significance for the town
of Moose Jaw, that at the time was struggling with the growing pains
of an expanding population and business sector.
After brief discussions by the council of the day, and with only one
public meeting, where agreement was unanimous, the decision was
made to apply for incorporation as the City of Moose Jaw. The petition
was successful and on November 20, 1903 Moose Jaw became the
third city of the Northwest Territories. A civic holiday was declared and
a banquet of celebration was held that evening at the Brunswick Hotel
with more than 100 guests in attendance. Celebrations lasted until
3:30 a.m. when God Save the King was sung and Regina visitors
boarded a 5:30 a.m. train to return home.
14
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
Terry Stewart’s London
RT Bus (Part 2 of 2)
Rebuilt and described by Ivor
Setten
Offside
Illustration 2. In Terry’s original model the rear
was formed by strips bent to a very tight radius
thus giving a curved profile to this edge. This
created two problems. The first being that
strips, especially thelonger and thicker ones, are
very hard to curve without special bending tools
as the strips tend to fracture at the holes. The
second is a matter of esthetics as this one corner
is the only one so treated, the other corners
utilising angle girders, so it looks out of balance.
In the actual bus all corners have the same
radius. In order to eliminate these problems I
decided to eliminate this curve and simply use
angle girders as in the other three sides.
As in the nearside first prepare four Narrow
Strips, two 5½” and two 2½”, by bending their
top two holes into obtuse angles. Commence by
attaching a vertical 3" strip to the front end of the
4½” Angle Girder. The bolt also holds a facing
4½” Strip. Continue by attaching the formed
5½” Narrow Strips to the centre and rear end
holes of this girder. Attach an Angle Bracket by
its hole to the 3½” Angle Girder holding the entry
platform. A vertical 3½” Angle Girder is bolted
by its hole to the inner side of the 2½” Angle
Girder on the outer edge of the entry platform. A
further 3" Strip is attached to the Angle Bracket
with the bolt also carrying a 2" Strip the other
end of which is attached to the 3½” Angle Girder
previously mentioned. An outer 9½” Strip is
attached to the tops of the 3" Strips and the 6th
holes of the end 3½” Angle Girder and formed
5½” Narrow Strips. On the inner side of the 3½”
Angle Girder is a 2½” Strip which extends 2
holes beyond the top of the girder The forward
portion of this 9½” strip also carries, on the inner
side, flange down by its holes a 7½” Angle
Girder. A second 9½” Strip is attached directly
above the first. Bolt to the top two holes of the
rear 2½” Strip, by its holes flange outwards, a 1"
Angle Girder.
Between the third holes from the bottom on the
vertical strips and girder is compound 10" strip
comprising of overlapped 7½” and 4½” Strips
which extends four holes over the front wheel.
Immediately below this is a 4½” Strip which
only spans the space between the front and rear
wheels with the front end bolt also carrying a
2½” Curved Strip forming the front wheel arch.
A 2½” Curved Strip forms the rear wheel arch,
the rear bolt also holding a 2" Strip which is
bolted to the rear girder. The remaining space
between the rear 4th and 5th holes is filled by a
pair of 2" Strips. At the top front a rearward
inclined 2" Angle Girder is attached. Obtuse
Brackets are attached to the tops of the front and
rear girders. The formed 2½” Narrow Strips are
attached inside the 4th and 16th holes of the
upper 9½” Strip.
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
15
Upper Deck
Flooring
Illustration 11. Connect
the two sides by means
of 3½” Strips located at
either end of the offside
7½” Angle Girder. The
bolts holding the strips
also carry 9½” and 7½”
Strip respectively which
face the slotted edge of
the underlying longitudinal girders.
The rear
nearside fixture is a
Threaded Pin facing downward. This Threaded
Pin also secures a 2½” Strip forming the rear
floor member. Fill the remaining space with four
9½” Strips and one 7½” Strip. Slip a Rod
Connector onto the Threaded Pin. Between the
Rod Connector and the platform floor insert a 2"
Axle Rod which forms the vertical hand rail.
Upper Deck Seating
Illustrations 11 and 15. The seats are constructed in the same manner as those of the
lower deck and are attached in alternate holes of
the respective flooring strip. The rear bench seat
is a series of 2½” Angle Girders attached i n a
stepped formation followed by a 2½” Flat Girder.
A safety partition between the bench seat and
the stair well is a 2" Angle Girder fitted with two
vertical 1½” Strips. The upper two holes being
spanned by 2" Strips.
Stairway
Illustrations 13 and 16. The stairs are formed
from a double series of ½” Reversed Angle
Brackets joined by Fishplates. It is best to
construct the stairway and then fit the completed unit into the model. Commence with the
top stair and attach the second over the first and
add a connecting Fishplate to the underside.
The third stair is bolted above the second with
another connecting Fishplate on the underside.
The third stair is bolted to the landing represented by a 1" Flat Girder with the slots facing
the entrance. A further two ½” Reversed Angle
Brackets form the bottom stair. The unit is
attached under the ends of the 7½” Strips of the
upper deck floor. The lower ½” Reversed Angle
Brackets are bolted by means of ½” Bolts to the
entry platform. Between the step and platform
the bolts each carry a spacing Washer and
Collar. A Fishplate spans the two bolts. A
Narrow 1" x ½” Angle Bracket is secured to one
of Collars by means of a Set Screw which has a
spacing nut between the bracket and Collar.
A partition wall is formed by attaching 2" and
1½” Strips to the holes of a 1" Angle Girder. The
lower ends of these strips are connected by a 1"
Corner Bracket. This unit is attached to the bus
by a 1" Angle Girder which is bolted to the 3rd
and 4th holes on the underside of the outer
flooring 9½” Strip.
Rear
Illustrations 1 and 4. This part of the model
differs from Terry’s original due to the repositioned inner step and the elimination of the
16
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
the same radius as the roof arch 2½” Curved
Strips (if the builder has 4" strips they can be
used). It is best to build the roof as a separate
unit and attach after completion. The roof is two
sets of eight 5½” Strips overlapped 4 holes (if the
builder has eight 9" strips these will look neater)
attached at their ends including both overlaps
by the formed 2" Strips. Two are butted together
weith a third underneath connecting the two. If
the builder is using 9" and 4" strips then the 4"
strips need only be located at the ends and
centre of the roof. The roof unit is attached to the
Obtuse Angle Brackets and the formed section
of the 5½” and 2½” Narrow Strips.
Front
Illustrations 2 and 3. The upper deck roof arch
is a pair of large radius 2½” Curved Strips
overlapped two holes. The bolts also carry a 1"
Triangular Plate facing downward and spaced
from the curved strips by a Washer. Two 2½”
Strips are attached by means of Fishplates to the
lower two holes of the 2" Angle Girders. A
horizontal 2½” Strip and a vertical 1½” Narrow
Strip representing window frames are attached
to the 1" Triangular Plate completing the upper
deck.
rounded end. This also has the effect of enlarging the rear window which is more in keeping
with the prototype RT.
Attach two 3½” Strips between the top two
holes of the offside 3½” Angle Girder and the
bottom two holes of the nearside 2" Angle Girder.
Vertical 3" Strips are attached to the 1st and 4th
holes of the platform 2½” Angle Girder with the
top being bolted to the lower of the previously
mentioned 3½” Strips. Two 2½” Strips are
attached directly above the 2½” Angle Girder.
Two large radius 2½” Curved Strips overlapped
two holes are bolted to the
girder tops form the roof arch.
The two bolts also carry an
inner 1" Triangular Plate which
in turn holds a 2½” Narrow
Strip forming the top window
frame. A black 1½” Flat Girder
representing destination
blinds is centrally attached to
the two horizontal 3½” Strips.
Roof
Illustrations 1, 2, 3, 4, and 14.
Commence by forming twelve
2" Strips into a gentle curve of
Attach Angle Brackets by their slots, lug outward, to the end holes of the front 1½” Angle
Girder of the chassis end. Locate the Angle
Brackets on the slots so that the lug is in line
with the lower 4½” Strip of the body side. The
radiator and bonnet can be constructed as a
separate unit and then attached to the bus. The
top of the bonnet is a 1½” Strip and a 1½” x 1½”
Flat Plate attached to the slots of a pair of 2"
Angle Girders. On the offside, 1½” Strips are
attached to the inside end holes of the 2" Angle
Girder. A 2" Strip is bolted on the inner side
between the middle holes of the 1½” Strips. The
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
17
three black 1½” Strips. A central 1½” Narrow
Strip represents the A.E.C. central stripe.
The completed unit can now be attached to the
body. The rear 1½” Strips are attached to the
3rd holes of the girder forming the chassis
sides. The front 1½” Strip and Angle Girder are
bolted to the Angle Brackets bolted the chassis
ends and the offside 1½” Angle Girder is attached to the end of the 4½” Strip and 2½”
Curved Strip. The top bolt also carrying an inner
1" Narrow Strip.
A 1½” Narrow Strip connects the 1" Narrow
Strip to the end of the 9½” Strip of the upper
deck body. A 3½” Narrow Strip forms an inside
window frame above the bulkhead. This strip is
held in place by means of 1" x ½” Angle Brackets
attached to the sides. A vertical 1½” Narrow
Strip bolted the third hole of the 3½” Narrow
Strip which represents a window divider. A
final 1½” Narrow Strip representing the front
window frame is bolted to the 2nd hole of the
lower, upper deck, 2½” Strip. A black 1½” Flat
Girder, representing the destination blinds, is
centrally attached holes of the front 2½” Strips.
Colours
London busses were actually painted in two
different colour schemes. The familiar red for
the Central Area and a very pleasing dark green
for the Country Area. As the model is constructed mostly of strips the green Country Area
seemed the logical choice of colour scheme.
The following are some of the key parts of the
bus and their actual colours:
front nearside has a 1½” Angle Girder bolted
inside by its hole, flange forwards, to the front
end hole of the 2" Angle Girder. A 1½” Strip is
bolted inside the other end. A 2" Strip is
attached immediately below the girder with
the inner end being secured by a Set Screw.
The nearside mudguard is a pair of 3" Formed
Slotted Strips curved to a much tighter radius.
The centre two holes being connected by a 1"
Narrow Strip. The front two slots are connected by a 1" x ½” Angle Bracket which is in
turn bolted to the outer end of the 2" Strip. The
radiator front is three 2½” Strips attached to
the 1½” Angle Girder with their outer ends
being connected by the slots of a further 1½”
Angle Girder. The radiator is represented by
two stacked 1½” x 1½” Flat Plates faced by
In building the model wherever possible use
parts of the appropriate colour or, if you are not
too much of a purist, repaint some parts as
required.
Parts Required
Notes
1. The quantity of Washers refers to the number
required for spacing purposes and those used
under bolt heads over slotted holes. If the
18
Canadian MeccaNotes
builder requires to place washers under all
boltheads and nuts a greater quantity is required.
2. For esthetic reasons try to use the old style 2"
Strip without the centre hole as, in this model,
the centre hole looks very much out of place and
gives an unbalanced look to the model.
3. If the builder has no objection to using odd
sizes of strips and girders cut from longer damaged parts the following makes the model look
neater. Illustrations 1 to 3 show the model
utilizing these parts.
4. As the model is almost entirely constructed
from strips the standard zinc coating gives a
very plain finish to the model. Where possible it
is best to use green strips and girders and if the
builder has no objection to refinishing tired
looking parts then repaint the chassis and flooring members black and the seats brown. As the
ceiling was cream only one side of the parts
forming the lower deck ceiling and upper deck
floor need be painted black.
Ivor Setten
June 2003
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
19
Meccano and the Nobel
Prize
While attending the Toronto Hobby Show last
November, I purchased some 1935 Meccano
Magazines. Inside the August 1935 issue in the
centre of page 489 I found a picture of a young
A. Schawlow with a caption describing him as
the President of the Central Y.M.C.A. (Toronto)
Meccano Club. In those days Toronto’s Central
Y.M.C.A. was on the north side
of College Street between Yonge
and Bay Streets on the site of
the present Police Headquarters.
I immediately recognized this
Meccano Club leader as Arthur
Schawlow, the winner of the
1981 Nobel Prize in Physics. He
shared half the prize that year
with Nicolaas Bloembergen for
their contributions to the development of spectroscopy using
lasers. In fact Schawlow had a
central role in the invention of
the laser, a short label for Light
Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation. In 1958
Arthur Schawlow and Charles
Townes published a paper in
the Physical Review describing
the basic principles. As Townes
explained in his book How the
Laser Happened, Schawlow’s
essential contribution was the
suggestion to use a particular
optical device called a FabryPerot interferometer as a resonant cavity to amplify the stimulating radiation. Townes specifically recognized
Schawlow’s training at the University of Toronto.
Schawlow studied at Vaughan Road Collegiate
Institute from 1932 to 1937 and at U of T, where
he obtained at BA in physics in 1941 and a PhD
in 1949. Then as a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University in New York he began his
collaboration with Townes and later married his
youngest sister and moved to the Bell Telephone
Laboratories in New Jersey. In 1954 Townes
perfected the maser (Microwave Amplification
by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) and soon
began to think how the process could be extended to
light.
Fifteen years after Schawlow
I also studied physics at U of
T and for physical optics I
had the same Professor
Malcolm Crawford. I remember his detailed lectures on
the Fabry-Perot interferometer in 1955-56 and also his
remark that it is very unfortunate that we could not
make light waves coherent
like radio waves because
each atom in a light source
radiated independently. Thus
it was fitting that Crawford’s
student contributed so centrally to giving us coherent
light sources that now have
countless applications.
Another Nobel Laureate interested in construction toys
as a boy is Martin Perl, who
received half of the 1995
Nobel Prize in Physics for his
discovery of the tau lepton in
1975. It is an elementary charged particle similar
to the electron but with nearly twice the mass of
a proton and a mean life of only 10-13 seconds.
Both Schawlow and Perl were professors at
Stanford University in California when they received their prizes
20
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
In an autobiography on the web site of the Nobel
Foundation at http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1995/ Perl describes his intense interest
in all things mechanical as he was growing up
in New York City in the 1930’s. Although he did
not have his own Erector set, his cousin had one
that he was able to play with every Saturday.
A third example is Sir Harry Kroto, who shared
the 1996 Prize in Chemistry with two colleagues
for their discovery of fullerenes. The most common of these is carbon-60, the molecule consisting of 60 carbon atoms joined together like a
soccer ball. This is the same stiff structure that
Buckminster Fuller designed for the 1967 World
Exhibition in Montreal. Consequently the discoverers
named
the
new
material
buckminsterfullerene. These cages can form in
many sizes, are very stable, and can enclose
single charged atoms of various elements. Long
tubes of carbon atoms also are possible and
some forms can be superconductors of electricity at very low temperatures.
Sir Harry did have a Meccano set that he used
much as a boy in Bolton, England, as he recounts at http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1996/. He contrasts Meccano, which
taught him real engineering skills, with Lego,
which he calls “technically trivial”. Last Christmas in the Higher Education Supplement of the
London Times Sir Harry wrote “I am sure it was
a crucial element in my development and it
cannot be a coincidence that nearly 100 per cent
of older scientists and engineers had Meccano
as children. Accurately aligning nuts and bolts
and tightening them without tearing the thread
is a delicate art, requiring good hand-eye coordination and an awareness of the subtle differences between materials such as steel, brass
and aluminium.”
There is a Canadian connection to Sir Harry’s
interest in unusual carbon molecules. From 1964
to 1966 he was a post-doctoral fellow in Ottawa
in Gerhard Herzberg’s Molecular Spectroscopy
Section of the National Research Council (NRC).
Later, back in England at the University of Sussex, Harry began investigating carbon chain
molecules such as HC5N and HC7N and wondered if they might be detectable in interstellar
space. Each type of molecule radiates characteristic radio frequencies that Sir Harry was able
to measure in his laboratory. Consequently in
1975 he encouraged his friends in Ottawa to
search for these with the 46-metre radio telescope in Algonquin Park. (That year NRC joined
spectroscopy and astronomy in the Herzberg
Institute of Astrophysics, named in honour of
Canada’s winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry.) The telescope detected both molecules with unexpectedly strong signals.
Even longer chains seemed possible so that Sir
Harry proposed a laboratory search to Robert
Curl, whom he knew from post-doctoral days at
NRC, and Richard Smalley of Rice University in
Texas because they had the necessary equipment and diagnostic tools. However, much to
their surprize, they found three-dimensional
cages of 60 and 70 carbon atoms.
Thus Meccano or Erector contributed to the
early development of three outstanding researchers.
Don Morton
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
21
Metallus New Geared
Roller Bearing
quite some changes. First of all
there is an outer ring consisting
of 16 bearings with a diameter
of each 22mm. The inner ring
has 8 bearings to prevent bending of the upper steel plate to
the inner side which is designed
to take up models of approximately up to 200kg. This suits
to the toothing that can take up
Last fall, Metallus released a new design of Geared Roller Bearing. Stefan
Wanders introduced it as follows on
spanner:
“After some thinking about quality and
prices of original Meccano GRB’s we
came to the conclusion that it is time for
a new design with some technical improvements. The new Metallus-GRB is
available in Meccano dark red or blue
and has 24 roller bearings fixed on a
2mm thick steel plate with the same
overall measurements as the original
one. The hole pattern is also the same of
course. Between the plates there are
22
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
+31 (71) 515 6935, http://
www.detombe.nu, e-mail:
[email protected]
Thomas de Tombe sells
Metallus parts and will ship
anywhere in the world. He
accepts credit cards. Because of postage costs from
Germany, it can be cheaper
to purchase parts through
The Netherlands.
our roller chain (breaking power 300kg) or the
new designed “sprocket gear” that meshes with
the tooth ring at angles of +/- 10degrees to give
some flexibility. The GRB comes in the same
wooden box as all our construction sets. The
“sprocket gear” is included as well of course.
The photos show the GRB with bearing brackets
fixed to the upper table. If you want to keep the
the upper plate free from optically disturbing
bolts and nuts you can fix the brackets to the
lower table as well. Both have the same hole
arrangements, however the
lower has a smaller diameter.”
Metallus is located in Germany
and manufactures Marklin and
Meccano compatable parts. In
addition, they sell the remaining
stocks of Temsi parts and specialized items such as stepper
motors.
Metallus can be contacted at
Rekers Digitaltechnik GmbH &
Co.KG, Hauptstr. 39, 48480
Spelle, Germany, Phone: ++495977/9399-44, Fax: ++49-5977/
9399-23,
http://
www.metallus.de,
e-mail:
[email protected]
Another company that sells
Metallus parts is De Tombe Toys
for boys and ... Men, De
Kempenaerstraat 77, NL-2341 GJ
Oegstgeest, The Netherlands,
Phone: +31 (71) 517 2977, Fax:
June 2003
2nd Annual One Day
Meccano Show
The second Annual One Day Meccano Show
was held at “Le Biftheque” on Saturday May
3rd. There was a small but enthusiastic attendance, and
an interestOskar
ing selecKohanec
tion of models was on
display for
everyone to
enjoy.
To begin
with, we
welcomed
two new
modelers
who were
displaying
their models for the
first time.
We were all
impressed
by
newcomer 11
year
old
O s k a r
Kohanec,
w
h
o
brought a
freelance
race car designed and built by cleverly combining parts from a 50-Model, 20-Model, and 2Model set. Needless to say, we plan to encourage Oskar to join us again at
The Hobby Show in November.
Secondly, Frank Curry brought
along a model of a Humber 6.5l
car – most inspiring.
Before discussing the balance
of the models that were brought,
the magnificent ‘find’ by Art
Stokman deserves to be highlighted. A response to an advertisement that Art had placed
in “The Hamilton Spectator” for
Meccano resulted in Art going
to see an elderly gentleman
whose house, as Art described
it, “could not be closer to the
steel foundry if you tried.” The
Canadian MeccaNotes
23
collection had been stored in the garage for
many years, and, sadly, there had been a small
fire at one point, which had resulted in some
damage to the collection. Even so, the material
that Art acquired, and brought to show us, had
us all drooling! For a start, he obtained not one
but TWO Geared Roller Bearings, plus a pre-war
Number Two set complete in its box. Art also
obtained a considerable collection of pre-war
“Meccano Magazines.” He has yet to complete
the inventory, but it certainly rates as the treasure trove of the year!
Next, we go to the models that Lynn Krause
brought for us to enjoy. Lynn is clearly one of the
most inventive modelers in the group, and her
display only reinforced this opinion. Her models
consisted of:
(1) “Thumper” (name courtesy of Marsha
Brandston), a six-legged self-propelled walker
that was to be Lynn’s entry in Dieter’s winter
modeling competition (schraube-und-mutter.de)
– that was, until she re-read the rules and
realized it was too large and needed revising.
Lynn subsequently redesigned the model to
meet the competition requirements, but she
could not bring the new model for us to see, as
the competition results aren’t out yet.
(2) “To-And-Fro”: in this model a carriage powered by a DC motor moves back and forth
between two end posts. At each end post, the
frame of the carriage strikes against a bumper,
throwing the reversing switch of the motor and
thus causing the vehicle to change direction.
Lynn built two carriages, one with Flanged
Wheels (which had been generously given to me
a while back by Colin Hinz), which runs on rails,
and the other with tyres which runs on the table
24
Canadian MeccaNotes
Hubert Hogle's
Display
top, straddling the rails.
(3) “Inertia Car”: this model was designed and
built by Tom Goldthorpe, Lynn’s husband. It is
powered by the kinetic energy stored in a (nonMeccano) flywheel, and was inspired by toys
which many of us played with, and which
operated on the same principle.
(4) “Exacto No4 Set” brand new and mint, in red
and green.
Attila Szakonyi brought a model of a Motor Car
Chassis, with four (count ‘em) obsolete 187B
Plastic Wheels, as well as the Konkoly model of
a pendulum mechanism that was featured in an
issue of the “Meccano
Magazine” in the 1970’s,
one that has been the subject of an extensive debate
on Spanner recently.
Manfred Leimgardt occupied the most space, with
both models and sets on
display. His models consisted of a magnificent
Bluebird Racing Car in Blue
and Gold, a Double Swing
Boat, a Caboose, a Motorcycle and a Saloon Car.
Both Don Redmond and
Hubert Hogle took the
trouble to drive down to
Toronto from Kingston to
be with us. When I was
walking the floor, making
the list of models for this
article, Don quickly pointed
out his model of a turtle.
This consisted of a grand
total of seven parts, exclud-
Don Redmond's
Windmill
June 2003
ing nuts and bolts. The carapace was a Flanged Sector
Plate, the head and legs were
made of Bent Strips Stepped
(he had to bend the parts to
create the four legs, so do
these become Bent Bent
Strips Stepped?), and the tail
of a Pawl without Boss. Don
also had a Windmill built entirely from Crane and Highway Set parts, which meant
they were all in yellow – plus
the interesting anomaly of a
Circular Strip that was
painted in the same colour – this part is not
supposed to exist, but Don found one! He also
had his display of Meccano motors on show.
For Hubert, his display consisted of a variety of
mechanisms that we have seen at previous
Hobby Shows, but are always a source of fascination for everyone that sees them.
Finally, the two Colins, Hinz and Hoare, brought
the Twin Beam Pumping Engine and the Cyclist
in a Ring respectively – with yours truly having
built his model relying solely on the photographs
of Editor David Williams’ version that appeared
in the March issue of “Canadian MeccaNotes.”
There were a couple of distractions on the day that are
worth noting. First of all, the
Auction House, Maynards,
were selling off the contents
of the Irwin Toy building –
something we did not find
out about until earlier in the
week. This included the display models that they still had
in stock: a couple of our group
went down to the sale, and
each now own a Display
Model – the freighter in one
case, and the Field of Dreams
Baseball Diamond in the
other. Also, since the larger
of the two Meccano collections that were offered for
sale in the last issue of the
magazine was located less
than ten minutes away from
the restaurant, four members
went to have a look at it, and
it has now found a good
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
home.
The Show concluded with dinner at the
restaurant, as on previous occasions,
and it made a fitting end to an enjoyable
day.
Colin Hoare
Right: Lynn
Krause's
"Thumper"
More “Meccano” License
Plates
These two plates were owned by Kendrick
Bisset. The New York plates are a couple
of years old, and are no longer registered he moved from New York to Kentucky last
August.
Below is a special plate that I painted soon
after I got into the hobby.
David Williams
25
26
Canadian MeccaNotes
Meccano Magazine June 1942
New
Meccano
Models SideTipping Rail
Wagon and
Crushing
Mill
June 2003
June 2003
Canadian MeccaNotes
27
The Peddler
WANTED: Stabil and Stokys parts. Samuel F.
Chow, 7466 - 13th Avenue, Burnaby, BC V3N
4K4,
1-604-525-7855,
[email protected].
FOR SALE: Meccano parts: yellow/blue, Red/
green, gears, motors and windups, manuals
and complete sets l973 vintage, sets 3 to 6.
Send for price lists or your wants. Earl Pitts, 26
Dyer Court, Cambridge, ON N3C 4B8. (519)
658-2086
or
e-mail
[email protected]
MECCANO & ERECTOR
Parts, Sets & Literature
Old, New, Used, Restored
Send $2.00 (U.S. or CDN)
New Parts List w/Prices
*** SPECIAL TO MEMBERS ***
Remote Control Units
with 2 Motors: US $50.00
ALSO
Master Builder Sets: US $100.00
(Shipping Extra)
Discounts on 1990's sets;
Call or e-mail for details.
Model Plans and Canadian
MeccaNotes Back Issues
Can be obtained from:
o Colin Hoare (address on page 2), via Money
Order or Cheque.
o outside North America: MW Models
(address below) sells 2002 and earlier issues.
LOU BOSELLI
19 Payson Rd.
Cornwall-on-Hudson
N.Y. 12520 U.S.A.
(845) 534-2863
[email protected]
http://www.memeshadow.net/cmamas/
meccano/Lou_Boselli/
MW Models
Mail Order: PO Box 4650, Henley-on-Thames,
Oxton,
England RG9 1YP, phone: 0491
572436, FAX: 0491 571175,
[email protected]
http://www.mwmodels.co.uk/
Credit cards are accepted!
28
Canadian MeccaNotes
June 2003
John & Judith Overeem and Don Bardutz
at the Moose Jaw Hobby Show
Right: Bill Bardutz' Krazy Klock
Moose Jaw & Kingston
Hobby Shows
Mechantrix Sets & Parts
For Sale in Moose Jaw
Kingston: Gary Forkes and
his Orrery (CMN 25)
Kingston: Rope
Making Machine